3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

22 | pulse

2 2

p u l s e

I WAS STILL sobbing when Jed pulled me back up.

Losing Dimitri was like losing Spike all over again, only far more painful, because I knew for a fact that Dimitri had given up his life to save mine. He'd said far too often that he had no loyalty to anyone, no Luna. But he'd called me his and I knew it. I just didn't say it, but for the longest time, I had the gut feeling that I'd somehow won over his loyalty the night I refused to let Titan make him a prisoner. And I had a feeling that he knew too that after losing Spike, he'd become the one person I trusted and relied on the most after Jed.

The fact that he was gone now was devastating.

Jed patiently held me, his arms wrapped tightly around my shaking frame and his lips pressed gently to the side of my head. His fingers traced soothing patterns on the small of my back and the mere action alone, coupled with the way I felt entirely safe with him, was comforting.

Hearing the occasional howl still echo in the background and remembering that the fight was still very, very much ongoing, I hastily brushed my tears away with the back of my hand. "I'm okay," I assured him, when I saw the way he was staring worriedly at me. He looked exhausted and beaten, but still seemed more concern about my wellbeing than his own. "We should go."

He nodded and slowly climbed to his feet, biting his lip to keep from flinching. I was guessing it had to be the bruises on his ribs, but he held out his hand for me to take before I could worry about him, and pulled me up. We made swift work, striding quickly across the now empty room and only pausing to pick up my knife along the way. Jed picked up several of Dimitri's, and I pushed aside the pang in my chest when I thought about how bravely he'd defended us earlier.

I kept close to him as we headed down the stairs, keeping close to the sides. Jed's eyes were sharp, even if his energy seemed sapped, and he didn't let down his guard. We were still in the midst of descending the second flight of stairs when Jed suddenly froze, instinctively pushing me behind him.

Then he fell a step back. Placing a palm on the small of my back, he urged me back up the stairs. Before long, we were back in the same room. Jed glanced round the room, taking in the low ceiling and dim light by the pillar, the unlocked chains strewn on the floor. Nothing else. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run.

In the middle of the dimly lit room, he pulled me swiftly towards him and dropped a quick kiss to my lips. It was fleeting but it was bittersweet, and I could taste the blood from the cut on his lip, but his taste drowned out everything else when he swept his tongue across the crevice between my lips, his fingers sliding up to rest against my cheeks.

"I'll keep you safe," He said quietly, his lips brushing mine as he spoke, his green eyes meeting mine unwaveringly. "I promise."

I nodded, because I never had any doubt that it was true, and took a deep breath. I was scared, terrified, and I knew that Jed felt the same way. But there were times when you couldn't keep running. Monsters you had to face once and for all. The time was now. The footsteps were nearing and Jed stood in front of me, his posture entirely defensive, eyes steadily fixed on the stairs as he waited.

Then a chilling voice broke the silence.

"Brother." Malthus Trevino reached that final few steps, his black eyes glinting in the shadows. He was just as I remembered – that straight nose and strong jaw that looked a lot like Jed's, but his eyebrows were set too close, the brevity in his eyes hard, grim, wicked. The sinister smile playing on his lips stretched when he saw us, my ashen face and Jed's emotionless one. I didn't think he missed the fear in our eyes at all. "It's been awhile."